The present invention relates to lighting optics for light means of vehicles, preferably motor vehicles. At least one light-refracting lens element is disposed in the path of rays of at least one light means.
Maximum light intensities that are a function of angle are legislatively mandated for the lights of motor vehicles. In order to be able to fulfill this legislative requirement, the light radiated from the light means is parallelized through a Fresnel lens and is subsequently spread through suitable lenses in a light disk of the light means into the prescribed directions. A light intensity/angle characteristic is legislatively prescribed and characterizes a rectangular-wave light distribution as indicated by the reference numeral 6 in FIG. 7. Critical to this legislatively prescribed characteristic are the points 8 and 9 that in an angle of +10.degree. and -10.degree. still describe a relatively high light intensity. Such a characteristic cannot be achieved with the described light means, which includes Fresnel lenses and dispersion lenses. For this reason, light means are utilized that are over dimensioned with respect to their light intensity and that in the angle 0.degree. have a very high light intensity, whereby their intensity/angle characteristic is very wide. Although as a result of this over dimensioning the critical points 8 and 9 of the legislated characteristic 6 are fulfilled, such over dimensioning of the light means results in a considerable development of heat, which of course is disadvantageous.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve a lighting optics of the aforementioned general type such that the legislatively prescribed characteristic can be achieved for a light means without having to over dimension the light means with regard to the light intensity thereof.